(Photo: Lionsgate)
On September 5, Junior Noah Jones hosted a screening of the film “Crash” on campus at Regis University. If asked to summarize the past year in one word, I would use anger. It slowly trickled into the political sphere until it became a flood. A flood so powerful it is drowning out all chances of a productive political discussion. Jones spoke on the multitude of interracial interactions currently taking place in our country. He described the film as a “narrative to de-politicize a politicized conversation.”
Around fifteen to twenty Regis University students attended the film screening. During the first twenty minutes of the event, a conversation arose from the students. “Yeah, I’m only coming here so I can get credit for my class,” uttered multiple students. These initial comments were the closest thing to a discussion about the film. It was clear most of the students attended out of a mandate. For the first two minutes of the film, quiet chatter continued until the films persuasion to watch it was all too powerful and students quickly surrendered their attention to the screen.
When the movie concluded the crowd was silent, the conversation seemed unable to slide its way back into the recital hall. The thought provoking nature of the film had left many of the students in attendance stunned. The film takes seemingly unrelated lives and slowly intertwines them. This ends in devastation with only a few characters left to rebuild to the state of redemption.
The pivotal, climactic crash takes place in the intersecting story lines of Officer Hanson, portrayed by Ryan Philippe, and Peter, portrayed by Larenz Tate. This scene sparks the largest bout of personal introspection because we all try to be like Officer Hanson; fair, unbiased, unprejudiced and just. Yet when returned to our native state of fear, like Officer Hanson was, we see just how prevalent or non-prevalent our biases really are.
“Crash” is an incredible film with an even more astounding, introspective message. This film has the power to send a different, albeit equally important, message to everyone that views it. If you’re looking for a good watch, check out “Crash.”
Thomas Jones
Staff Reporter